"Doing more exercise with less intensity,"
Arthur Jones believes, "has all but
destroyed the actual great value
of weight training. Something
must be done . . . and quickly."
The New Bodybuilding for
Old-School Results supplies
MUCH of that "something."

This is one of 93 photos of Andy McCutcheon that are used in The New High-Intensity Training to illustrate the recommended exercises.

Weight training is an area that highlights some incredible 'thinking'. One example is the 'kids shouldn't lift weights, because it is dangerous and causes all sorts of damage to normal growth', school of thought.

This is a miniscule snippet of what the average kid gets up to. They have pretty good imaginations, and love playing. When mum and dad aren't around, fun, fun, fun. So, what would the average kid weigh? How many times, or reps are they doing? Is their form good and being monitored? Core under control, etc, etc, etc, etc? Kids can obviously lift some decent weights, without 'damaging normal growth', or we would see every kid damaged in some way. In fact it seems their instincts propel them towards resistance, or weight training, to naturally enhance their development.

Enter some incredible 'thinking'. If the 'weight' is shaped like a barbell or dumbell etc, weighs much, much, much less than the average kid, is balanced, shaped and designed to be lifted, is lifted under supervision and in a strictly controlled environment, (i.e. core control, joint control, movement and range control, specific breathing etc, attention to fatigue), then that weight suddenly, miraculously transforms into an incredible object of horror and danger. And the children will be stunted, maimed and damaged for life.

How did your son turn out? Height? Weight? Does he still lift weights?

At age 15, he's 6'2" tall and weighs 191 pounds. He easily handles the entire weight stack on the Nautilus Nitro Leg Curl and Leg Press machines. And he's close to the entire weight stacks on the Pullover and Chest Press machines.

He has no interest in entering a bodybuilding contest. But in my opinion, he could probably win, or place high, in the Teenage Mr. Florida contest.

His sport of interest is rowing, the kind that involves 8 guys in a boat, 4 to a side. And he's very good at it.

How did your son turn out? Height? Weight? Does he still lift weights?

At age 15, he's 6'2" tall and weighs 191 pounds. He easily handles the entire weight stack on the Nautilus Nitro Leg Curl and Leg Press machines. And he's close to the entire weight stacks on the Pullover and Chest Press machines.

He has no interest in entering a bodybuilding contest. But in my opinion, he could probably win, or place high, in the Teenage Mr. Florida contest.

His sport of interest is rowing, the kind that involves 8 guys in a boat, 4 to a side. And he's very good at it.

Doc: Glad to see he is sticking with the program. I have trained 7 children over the years. (Not a statistically valid sample size but larger than most anecdotal experiences... lol.) I saw no correlation between height and strength training one way or the other when compared with expected growth curves. Swimming may be an exception. Seems for some reason many of the kids peers that were swimmers seemed to end up taller. Obviously that does not necessarily mean there is a cause effect relationship.

Dr. Darden, does your son or you or your clients perform any warmup sets prior to the work set
I have a hard time understanding how someone can do a whole stack on any machine with no warm up to that kind of weight

Dr. Darden,
this has nothing to do with strength training for kids per se,
how important is variation of different exercise when training 2 to 3 times per week full body...or is just as beneficial to do the same exercises for months or even years for general overall fitness

hit4me wrote:
Dr. Darden,
this has nothing to do with strength training for kids per se,
how important is variation of different exercise when training 2 to 3 times per week full body...or is just as beneficial to do the same exercises for months or even years for general overall fitness

thx, dan

It depends on the individual. Some like a lot of variation and some do not.